The Show That Failed

It was Hectors first show, he was overflowing with what seemed to be a mixture of excitement and nervousness. After all, there was a crowd of about sixty people in the small basement, all there to see his band 'Free Candy.' In a frantic effort to calm himself down he thought back to his practice for the show. The show was on short notice, they only had about a week to practice. They planned three different dates since they already knew the material. But Hector had shown up late to the first practice, and aside from that he had forgotten his drumsticks. His band members merely looked at him and told him "better luck next time," so he left. That left only two practice sessions, definitely not enough to practice for a show, then again neither was three. So there he was, about to go out on stage feeling more nervous than he had before, and ill prepared. Needless to say the show failed horribly, he kept stopping to try and remember the song, not a great thing for a drummer to do while playing, it stops the show dead, and he knew that it was in entirety, his fault.

Open Mic Night (part two)

Last Wednesday I announced my involvement in this months open mic night, and because of new events and helpful comments I have decided to write a sequel to my first post. The guitarist Will Soja is in fact not going to make it to the open mic night for reasons unknown to me. At first I was a bit worried about it because I had signed 'Crown Deville' up to play not 'Tyler Campbell.' I was able to find a replacement however, a guitarist by the name of Nick, and perhaps a bassist and/or another guitarist. Now I am more confident than ever, we have decided to cover songs wrather than teaching them the songs we created and adding additional parts for the addition of two other instrumentalists. So we have decided to cover 'Seven Nation Army' by 'The White Stripes,' and 'Blitzkreig Bop' by the Ramones. Also a comment asked me the specific addresses for the band websites, they are www.myspace.com/crowndeville, and www.reverbnation.com/crown_deville. Also you can check out our profile and page on facebook, just search crown deville in the search bar, one will have a picture of me and Will, thats our profile, the other, a picture of my history notes, thats the band page. Hope to see you on open mic night!

Open Mic Night

I have written several posts about my band Crown Deville, and now I finally get to break the news that we are going to play for the first time live at the open mic night next tuesday. I have been waiting a long time to play live with a band, and now I actually get to do it, and I can not be happier. My guitarist Will is not sure if he can make it or not, so there may be either a fill in guitarist, or I will be playing solo. Luckilly the show we are playing is only enough time for two short songs, so all we really need to do is make sure we're good and ready to go out there and rock the house! This show may seem too small to get excited about, but to me, this is Crown Devilles first time revealing itself beyond the realm of the internet, its as if that is our corrination, when we actually become a band. I will do a post every time we announce a show date, so stay tuned. If you are interested, the show is in the band room at the high school at 7:00 PM on Tuesday November 23, I hope to see some of you there. If you are interested in hearing our songs before you go, we can be found on Face book and Myspace. Sorry I hate to sound like an advertisement, I'm just very excited.

Drugs and Music Shouldnt Mix

A bold statement, I realize this allready, but I will die with this oppinion. Many people say that drugs help write a more creative song. To me, this is wrong, someone may write a good song while under the influence, but it was not the drugs that influenced it. In some cases a song may sound amazing while under the influence, and it could sound like complete garbage later when the listener is not on drugs. This is not the only reason that I believe this, it is also a matter of practice, if you have a drug or an addiction influencing your time then you have less time for practice. Even if you are practicing, you may not maintain the things you learned while doing so because of the drugs effect on you. I realize this is a very strongly worded article, but this is something that I feel very strongly about, and I want to share my opinion about it.

Post about the video

That was the third time Will and I had gotten together, these are not the full songs, and I may not post the full versions on here, if you do want to see them you can either check out Crown Devilles Facebook page (no im not on facebook just the band) and that will allow you to hear our songs, or you can go to www.reverbnation.com/crown_deville. Lastly you can go to our myspace page at www.myspace.com/crowndeville. We will also post show schedules, release dates, and other important informaion. That video was just the beginning! First Boston! Then... um, Charlestown!

Brookline Teen Center Grand Opening

This article is less about the actual opening scheduled for winter 2011, but more about the fact that Will and I are scheduled to play there. Last year I came in contact with Paul Epstien (brother of Theo Epstein, owner of the Red Socks) and found out that he was planning on building a teen center. I asked him if I could get involved in helping him as an intern over the summer. So me, Will, and many other teens from the high school got together with designers and advertising agents and finished the four year project of designing the teen center. Once it was finished being designed we all went our separate ways for the most part, but Will and I remained in contact with Paul, and we decided that Crown Deville is playing at the opening. Make sure to watch for an article containing the date of this event, and definatly check out the teen center, it rocks trust me.

Crown Deville

Band review

Last night I went to go see Superbug again, and I know that I have  written about these guys before, but I was thinking about making a new kind of post for my blog where I break down what was good and bad about the show and then give it a rating out of five. It was good to see Steve again, and I could not wait to see them play, also this time my dad was going as well, so he got to see them for the first time. To sum it up, we were not disappointed, the songs that they played from their own albums were magnificent, and they did a masterful cover of the song Epic by Faith No More. Along side this they also played a cover of Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd in which Steve, the guitarist, played the solo perfectly, my dad says that he is the only guitarist hes seen that was able to do the solo as close to the original song. Over all it was a lot of fun, these guys really are one of my favorite bands. Five out of Five.

My new band

Do not let the title mislead you, I am still in Crown Deville, I devote much of my time to listening to and playing music, so I joined another band as well. We have not come up with a name yet as we have only met once, but we do have a full instrumental band including a bassist, a guitarists, a keyboardist, and me, the drummer. We first met on monday when I asked the bassist Fernando about the bass guitar he was carrying, and he explained to me that he was in a band that needed a drummer, so I told him that I could fill that spot, and he said yes. So on that very day, all of the band members got together and went to his house to have our first jam session, and let me tell you, I think we sound good. Be looking for more articles, pictures and videos on this subject.

MY FIRST SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dads wrestling league BLOWW, which has appeared in a few posts already, was playing during the halftime show of a roller derby yesterday, and their usual drummer for the side music couldn't make it. I was approached by my dad and the bassist, Ethan with an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. They wanted me to do the drumming for the show. Now because our only mode of transportation was a compact car, we could not transport the entire drum set, just a wood block and a crash cymbal so I felt a bit handicapped, but who cares? MY FIRST SHOW!!! It was so exciting, but at the same time, to make up for the lack of a full drum set, I wore my leather jacket zipped up, with gloves and a pumpkin mask. It got so hot after the first five minutes, but it was worth it. That was definitely not my last show, and I hope to wear that pumpkin mask for every one of them. If you want to see a picture of my ridiculous set up, scroll to the bottom of the page, I have some pictures of the show there.

Crown Deville (part two)

My followers recently asked me a few questions about the band that I realized I had not answered, so I decided to write a part two to my origional post. When we first got together we realized we needed a name, but we couldnt settle on one. Then I suggested Crown Deville. Crown Deville was inspired by my dad who is the announcer for Boston League of Women Wrestlers (BLOWW) and his stage name is Nash Deville. I am not going to go to far into what his character is because this is a school related blog, but lets just say his character loves power, women, and gold jewlry. So I thought that the 'Crown' in Crown Deville worked perfectly. Now that that is settled I can say thanks to you guys for commenting on my blog, and definatly expect pictures and videos and the such.

Crown Deville

As you know I am fond of writing about bands that I like, today I'm going to  take a different approach by writing about my band. Actually we just officially became a band today as I finally found us a bassist during lunch today, and man I feel good. Me, my friend Will, and my friend Jacob Miller came up with the idea for the band last year. Originally Jacob was going to be the bassist, but for reasons that shall remain private, he lost interest in ever doing anything ever, so we booted him. So the band was broken before it began, but just recently a friend of mine introduced me to his friend Micheal, who just happened to be a bassist, so I talked to him about our band and in this we resurrected Crown Deville, and I can't feel happier about it. Next week we are going to get together and jam for the first time, so be expecting a sequel to this post!

Horror Business

Horror Business is the coolest store in Alston, at least in my opinion. They are a small music store that sells a variety of things from punk Cd's to leather jackets and everything in between. The owner Troy knows almost everything there is to know about punk metal and Psychobilly music. He also knows all of the local bands and which ones are worth seeing. He is a cool guy, and hes great for finding those hidden jewels such as the ones I am writing about in my paper. I recently heard that the store wasn't doing that well so I offered to work there on Fridays for free, and in exchange he is going to teach me about retail and, even more exciting, hes going to tell me more about music and introduce me to really good local bands. Also I introduced Steve Marchena (I wrote about him last week) to them and he now sells his Cd's there. I would hate to see this store go out of business, its really cool. If you want to check them out, they are on 77 Harvard Ave. in Alston near the Blanchards. Hope you do, its worth it, trust me.

Pink Floyds 'The Wall'

Many people have seen or at least heard of this insane movie, and rightfully so, it is a fantastic movie, and last night, I was lucky enough to see it live. Oh wow, that was the single most amazing thing I have, and probably will ever see. The music (performed by Roger Waters of course) was extravagant and well performed, and the show was unlike any other I have ever seen in my life. It wasn't just lighting and pyrotechnics, there were giant puppets, crashing planes, beautiful graphics that complimented the movie perfectly, a giant pig, and of course, The Wall. I have no idea how they did it, but they built a huge wall on the stage slowly as the show was playing, with people back stage constantly bringing out pieces and placing them on this iconic stage prop. Once the wall  was built they even played graphics and scenes from the movie on it, which just made it ten thousand times more amazing. I actually shed a tear during this concert, it was that good, but sadly, this is Rogers last time touring, and all I can think is, wow I am really glad I was able to see this before it was too late.

Steve Marchena

     Steve is a good friend of mine that I met when I whent to see his band Hypaspace (no they are not rap) play at Perks Coffee House in Norwood. He also happens to be one of the most talented guitarrists I have ever seen, and I'm not just saying that, this guy knows how to play. Along with Hypaspace he is also in a band called Superbug, the difference is that Superbug has a singer while Hypaspace is more of an instrumental group. Steve also has a solo project in which he plays classical guitar, I'm not a huge fan of classical styles, but this was worth seeing, it sounded increadible, In fact I have never heard a guitar make that kind of sound.
      Another thing that caught my attention about Steve was the facial expressions he makes as he plays, when he starts into a crazy guitar solo he often smiles and nods his head toward the crowd. This may not sound like much but when your listening to him and his band play, you almost get pulled away from reality, and when he does that it brings you pulls you back, it allways makes me laugh a little when it happens. Recently I hooked him up with my dad and his wrestling league BLOWW (Boston League of Women Wrestlers) and he sometimes plays with them. Also if your interested, his cds may soon be sold at Horror Buisiness in alston. The store is located down the street from the Blanchards on Harvard street. I will let you know if his cds end up being sold there or not and look out for my post about Horror Buisiness coming soon.

The Lustkillers

    As you may know, I play the drums, and my teacher, James is in two bands, Silent Century and the Lustkillers. Of these two bands the only one that I've seen live was the Lustkillers, and let me tell you, that was a really good show, especially for me because I finally got to see my drum teacher play, and up until that point I had no idea he was that good. The music was really good, and the band had a very crowd inclusive and in your face attitude that made it fun to watch. Also along with their own songs they also did a few covers which were performed very well. One part that stuck out in general was when they had just finished their last song, everyone thought they were done when they burst into another song and the lead singer stuck his out his tongue at the bartender, the look on the bartenders face was one of extreme disapproval, though he let them play anyways. Anyways the point is, definitely go check out the Lustkillers if you have the chance, it's worth it.

Planetoid

        Planetoid is a band I saw yesterday at the Alston fair on Harvard street. I had already known the drummer because he was a former roommate of me and my dad, but I had never heard the band before. I had been told by many people that they were the best live band in Boston, so I knew from the start that i was in for a treat. Even armed with this knowlege, nothing prepared me for how good that show was. The sound that they got out of the bass guitar was unlike anything I've ever heard, and all of the members of the band really worked together to make some great music.

       It wasn't just the music that won me over however, the stage show was really cool, the band members all dressed up as aliens who were trying to take over the human race, which may sound kind of corny but trust me, it was awesome. They played their roles very well, as they even kept in character as they were still setting up. Over all it was a really fun show, and I highly recomend going to see them when you can, I know I am going to.